The Iowa Democratic Party and Republican Party of Iowa jointly shared good news last week: “The 2016 Iowa caucus results will be delivered via a new, mobile-enabled, cloud-based platform that will allow for accurate, efficient and secure reporting on caucus night.” After the jump I’ve enclosed the full statement, including more details on the technology.
Iowa politics watchers will be able to download apps that “will support each party’s unique caucus process.” The Iowa GOP collects paper ballots (of a sort) at precinct caucuses and releases statewide totals for caucus-goers who listed each presidential candidate as their first choice. The Iowa Democratic Party does not reveal how many caucus-goers preferred each presidential candidate, either as a first choice or after supporters of non-viable candidates realign. Rather, Democratic caucus results will show the number of county convention delegates (later converted to state delegate equivalents) for each candidate. Bleeding Heartland has previously described the sometimes complicated math for allocating county delegates.
Regardless of political affiliation, all Iowans will benefit from a smooth and accurate release of caucus results. The vote-counting fiasco from the 2012 Republican caucuses ended Matt Strawn’s tenure as Iowa GOP chair. A repeat could jeopardize Iowa’s place in the presidential nominating calendar, and it’s easy to imagine a narrow margin of victory for whoever emerges from this year’s crowded Republican field.
Although the 2016 Democratic caucuses are not likely to be as competitive, it’s still valuable to remove any grounds to question the accuracy of the reporting. Some Democratic old-timers still suspect that party bosses manipulated the release of the 1988 caucus results to deny victory to Senator Paul Simon of Illinois.
Joint statement from Iowa Democratic Party and Republican Party of Iowa:
Iowa Parties Announce New Technology for the 2016 Iowa Caucuses
DES MOINES, Iowa – June 5, 2015 – The 2016 Iowa caucus results will be delivered via a new, mobile-enabled, cloud-based platform that will allow for accurate, efficient and secure reporting on caucus night, the Iowa Democratic and Republican parties announced jointly today.
“The Iowa caucuses represent the very best of American democracy, as the men and women running for president meet Iowans in diners, coffee shops, and living rooms to discuss the future of our nation. Iowa Republicans and Democrats will always work together to preserve this grassroots tradition, and that’s why we’re so proud to partner with Microsoft on this exciting new caucus technology,” said Jeff Kaufmann, Chairman, Republican Party of Iowa.
“The new reporting system announced today continues Iowa’s long-standing, bipartisan tradition of leading the nation in advanced election technology,” added Iowa Democratic Party Chair Dr. Andy McGuire. “No matter where you live in Iowa, the reporting app will provide secure, efficient, and accurate results for the First-in-the-Nation Iowa caucuses. Iowa Democrats are proud to partner with the Republican Party of Iowa and Microsoft on this exciting advancement that once again puts Iowa at the forefront of politics and technology.”
Built on Microsoft technology, the new platform will feature separate mobile apps for both parties that will enable precincts to securely submit results directly to party headquarters. Apps for both parties will be available on all major mobile platforms and will support each party’s unique caucus process. The results will be securely stored and managed in Microsoft’s Azure cloud computing platform.
In addition to mobile reporting apps, each party will have a separate results verification app that will allow headquarters staff to monitor incoming results. Anomalies and potential problem areas will be automatically highlighted, and party officials will be able to quickly connect with precinct chairs if issues arise.
Added Dan’l Lewin, Microsoft’s Corporate Vice President of Technology and Civic Engagement, “At Microsoft, we believe that technology can help empower the democratic process. We are excited to apply our latest technology in innovative ways in partnership with Iowa’s political parties. For generations, the nation has looked to Iowa. Microsoft is honored to be part of this tradition.”
Additionally, the general public will be able to follow caucus night results on a new website where they can interface with a map of Iowa to discover results and information for each precinct in every county.
A visual description of this new system is available here.
The caucus technology is being created by Microsoft’s partner, //interknowlogy/, who specializes in UX design and development for mobile and cloud solutions.